Revenue, Redistribution, and the Rise and Fall of Inheritance Taxation

Genschel, Philipp ; Limberg, Julian und Seelkopf, Laura (4. August 2023): Revenue, Redistribution, and the Rise and Fall of Inheritance Taxation. In: Comparative Political Studies [Forthcoming]

Abstract

Why do countries repeal the inheritance tax? To investigate this question, we use a novel dataset on inheritance tax introductions and repeals worldwide. We argue that revenue requirements are the main determinant of repeal risks: The inheritance tax is resilient as long as it is central to the national revenue system; it becomes vulnerable to attacks once the rise of more efficient tax instruments marginalizes its revenue contribution. Devoid of fiscal purpose, its survival depends mainly on its redistributive features. Redistribution, however, is essentially contested and should be more important in democracies. The evidence is in line with our conjecture: The likelihood of inheritance tax repeal increases as other more buoyant taxes rise and non-democracies are more likely to repeal the tax than democracies.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Sozialwissenschaften > Department: Institut für Soziologie
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 300 Sozialwissenschaft, Soziologie
• ISSN: 0010-4140
• Bemerkung: First published online
• Sprache: Englisch